Local church makes headlines

Calling Christians a bunch of jerks is sure to turn a few heads, even more so when the one doing the name-calling is a group of Christians themselves. When Pastor Chris Beard and the congregation of Beaumont's Christ Covenant Church on Major Drive decided to erect a billboard labeling Christians as a bunch of jerks, they expected to get feedback. They didn't expect, however, to be answering calls from national news organizations as to what prompted the ad campaign.

Calling Christians a bunch of jerks is sure to turn a few heads, even more so when the one doing the name-calling is a group of Christians themselves. When Pastor Chris Beard and the congregation of Beaumont's Christ Covenant Church on Major Drive decided to erect a billboard labeling Christians as a bunch of jerks, they expected to get feedback. They didn't expect, however, to be answering calls from national news organizations as to what prompted the ad campaign.

"We actually blew up a lot bigger than we ever expected," Beard told The Examiner. "We talked with (CNN's) Headline News today (Oct. 15). We wanted to reach out to the community and send the message that as a church we messed up - and it looks like we've got people's attention. Really, we want a chance to say that all the things people say about Christians can be true, and we want to change that."

According to Beard, the "Jerks" billboard is based series called "What a Bunch of Jerks: Teachings of Jesus too often ignored by the church," which started Sunday, Oct. 10, and run through the end of the month.

"We talk about hypocrisy, holding grudges, judging," Beard said, adding that anyone can go online and view or hear the series. "We've got audio already, and we should have it on the Web by this weekend. We normally have a two-week lag, but this time we feel we ned to hurry." Past sermons in the series can be viewed at christcovenanet.info.

"We are just a group of imperfect people who want to reflect Jesus and be the hands and feet of Jesus in our community," Beard concluded. "Jesus affected each and every one of us and we want to give that back just as he instructed us to do."

Christ Covenant's billboard story has also been featured in the Houston Chronicle and MyFox Washington DC.